BOOK REVIEW: PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE (JUNE 2023) BY AO OMAE – SHARED EXPERIENCES OF ESTRANGED MODERN YOUTH

SASHA SENGELMANN WRITES – It is no secret that opening up to others may often be a daunting task, for there is no telling whether one’s display of vulnerability will be met with compassion or criticism. Such an idea is apparent in Ao Omae’s People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE (JUNE 2023) BY AO OMAE – SHARED EXPERIENCES OF ESTRANGED MODERN YOUTH

JAPAN: RECENT LEGAL REVISIONS ELIMINATE “FORCIBLE” FROM THE DEFINITION OF RAPE

ALI ZANE WRITES – Long criticized for its sex crime laws, Japan has revised the Penal Code, redefining rape as non-consensual sexual intercourse. Previously, rape was classified as forcible sexual intercourse, meaning that the assailant had to have used physical violence to qualify for prosecution. This century-old law has created…

Full Article JAPAN: RECENT LEGAL REVISIONS ELIMINATE “FORCIBLE” FROM THE DEFINITION OF RAPE

HAS THE INDIVIDUAL FALLEN?

ARMAAN JHANGIANI writes – Societies with law and order, power and stability, and virtues of morality and love have always been epitomized as the peak of human community and self-restraint. While the beginnings of America would encapsulate this, the industrial rise following America’s success in World War II would introduce…

Full Article HAS THE INDIVIDUAL FALLEN?

BOOK REVIEW: WEASELS IN THE ATTIC (2022) BY HIROKO OYAMADA – WHAT’S HIDING IN THE DARK?

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – The “perfect suburban life” is pretty simple in theory: get married, buy a house, and have children. Invite your neighbors over. Take up a hobby – like raising exotic fish. Yet, this seemingly picturesque ideal of marital bliss is scrutinized in Japanese storyteller…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: WEASELS IN THE ATTIC (2022) BY HIROKO OYAMADA – WHAT’S HIDING IN THE DARK?

BOOK REVIEW: WATERSONG (2022) BY CLARISSA GOENAWAN — THE SUBMERGING AND GRIPPING POWERS OF THE PAST

GABY RUSLI WRITES – The world is so much more than black and white, for there are always things unbeknown to us— secrets. A person is not who you know they are unless you know what they hide from the world. In the fictional Japanese town of Akakawa, Watersong (2022) by Clarissa Goenawan tells…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: WATERSONG (2022) BY CLARISSA GOENAWAN — THE SUBMERGING AND GRIPPING POWERS OF THE PAST

BOOK REVIEW: SOLO DANCE (2022) BY LI KOTOMI – A TANGO WITH DEATH AND QUEER IDENTITY

**Trigger Warning: This article recounts experiences of homophobia, suicide, physical abuse, and rape. BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – “Love conquers all” – we are often taught this maxim as children. We are persuaded to believe the very essence of love can solve all life’s problems. Yet, for those…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: SOLO DANCE (2022) BY LI KOTOMI – A TANGO WITH DEATH AND QUEER IDENTITY

BOOK REVIEW: DEAD-END MEMORIES (2022) BY BANANA YOSHIMOTO – A MEDITATION ON MODERN LOVE

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Why do people assume relationships could ever make logical sense? Love and relationships – the shimmering red strings that tie humans together – are convoluted at best. At their most devastating, they are temporary and ephemeral, like the changing ginkgo leaves that pile on the…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: DEAD-END MEMORIES (2022) BY BANANA YOSHIMOTO – A MEDITATION ON MODERN LOVE

BOOK REVIEW: SCATTERED ALL OVER THE EARTH (2022) BY YOKO TAWADA – ‘THE LAND OF SUSHI’ VANISHES

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – What would happen if your country sank into the ocean? Would you still have a claim to your “homeland”? What about the language you speak? Could it still be considered your “native language”? In Yoko Tawada’s latest release of dystopian fiction, Scattered All Over…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: SCATTERED ALL OVER THE EARTH (2022) BY YOKO TAWADA – ‘THE LAND OF SUSHI’ VANISHES

BOOK REVIEW: MY ANNIHILATION (2022) BY FUMINORI NAKAMURA – A SADISTIC NEW THRILLER THAT QUESTIONS YOUR REALITY

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – What exactly is the ‘self,’ and how can it be defined? From modern psychology, we know that human minds can be usurped through drastic techniques such as brainwashing, manipulation, and even hypnosis. Elusive and slippery in nature, the malleable ‘self’ forms and reforms…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: MY ANNIHILATION (2022) BY FUMINORI NAKAMURA – A SADISTIC NEW THRILLER THAT QUESTIONS YOUR REALITY

BOOK REVIEW: LONGING AND OTHER STORIES (2022) BY JUN’ICHIRŌ TANIZAKI – A CLASH OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.

ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Through a vulnerable child’s eyes, parents represent stability, protection, and even eternity. What happens when eternity grows small and seemingly insignificant? Adolescents, ostensibly indestructible and infinitely hot-headed, get their first taste of personal freedom and start to detach from their nurturers. As one generation grows stronger and…

Full Article BOOK REVIEW: LONGING AND OTHER STORIES (2022) BY JUN’ICHIRŌ TANIZAKI – A CLASH OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.